About the rumor of death due to eating seafood: Victim was stabbed by a snake leading to blood poisoning
(Baonghean.vn) - In recent days, information has been spreading on social networks that a resident of Nghi Phu commune (Vinh city) after eating sea crab experienced symptoms of chest pain, dizziness, nausea, and swollen and deformed fingers that turned black.
Information on social networks also said that the cause of the incident was related to the environmental disaster caused by Formosa.
To verify the information, Nghe An Newspaper conducted an investigation and was informed by the Provincial General Hospital: The victim was Mr. Nguyen Thanh Hai (47 years old, residing in Hamlet 3, Nghi Phu Commune, Vinh City), who died of blood infection, not poisoning as rumored on the internet.
Mr. Nguyen Thanh Long (38 years old, Mr. Hai's uncle) said that on August 21, Mr. Hai went to his mother's house in Cua Hoi (Cua Lo town, Nghe An) to visit and stopped by the market to buy 6 crabs. At noon on August 22, Mr. Hai boiled 4 crabs to eat with rice, and kept the 2 larger crabs to cook porridge for his children. While preparing the crabs, Mr. Hai accidentally got a crab leg stuck in his finger, causing bleeding.
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| The victim's family said that while processing crabs, Mr. Hai accidentally got stabbed in the hand by a crab's leg. |
That same evening, Mr. Hai complained of pain in his fingers, and the wound began to turn black. On the morning of August 23, his fingers turned black and became stiff. The victim was taken to Dong Au Hospital by his relatives and then transferred to Nghe An General Hospital in critical condition. On the afternoon of August 26, Mr. Hai died.
Regarding the rumor that the victim died from seafood poisoning, Doctor Vu Ngoc Lan - Head of the Department of Intensive Care and Anti-Poison (Provincial General Hospital) confirmed: Patient Nguyen Thanh Hai died from blood infection, there were no signs of poisoning from food.
According to Dr. Tran Van Thanh - Department of Intensive Care and Anti-Poison (Provincial General Hospital) - who directly treated the patient: The patient was admitted to the hospital with swelling in the arms and hands and necrotic rashes on the thighs and abdomen. The hospital conducted blood tests and consultations, thereby determining that the patient had multiple organ failure and should undergo blood filtration to detoxify.
Next, the hospital performed a blood culture on the patient. The results showed that patient Hai had a blood infection leading to septic shock and isolated the bacteria as Vibrio Vulnificus.
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| Be careful when preparing sea crabs because this animal is susceptible to toxic bacteria (Internet photo) |
This bacteria is present in the crab and infects the patient's blood through the wound of the crab on the hand. After infection, the patient suffers from blood poisoning due to the bacteria causing severe endotoxin and exotoxin. The poisoning process progresses very quickly, so if not detected and treated promptly, it will lead to multiple organ failure and death.
Doctor Thanh also said: "The patient has a history of alcohol abuse, so the liver's detoxification function is poor, causing the bacterial poisoning process to occur more quickly and seriously."
| Vibrio Vulnificus is a gram-negative bacterium of the genus Vibrio, which lives in the natural environment of brackish water, estuaries and near the coast. This bacterium can also be found in shellfish such as crabs, clams, mussels, etc. Vibrio Vulnificus causes disease in humans if transmitted into the bloodstream through scratches, mild cases of fever, swelling and pain around the wound, severe cases of blood poisoning can be fatal. People with liver disease, diabetes, cancer or taking stomach medication may be more severely affected by infection. Vibrio Vulnificus dies at high temperatures, so wearing gloves when preparing and cooking seafood before eating is a recommended measure to avoid the risk of infection in humans. (Source: Internet) |
Thus, the rumor that the victim died of poisoning from eating crab is incorrect. The cause has been verified to be blood poisoning caused by a naturally occurring bacteria, combined with the victim’s health condition leading to death. There is absolutely no basis to conclude that this case is related to the Formosa environmental incident.
PV